Sunset Bright Velvet Rage 315gTag:

Posted on by Jennifer Corn Posted in Tips & Tricks
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3 Ways to Create Statement Art with Your Images

Looking for new ways to add creativity to your printed images? You can create one-of-a-kind pieces of art with a few creative choices. If you are using an aqueous printer, here are three tips to delight your clients and finish your photos with flare:

GIVE THEM AN EDGE. Three-time Sunset Print Award winner Kimberly Smith loves the Sunset Bright Velvet Rag, which she uses to distress the edges of some of her fine art prints. “The thickness [of the paper] means the tears on the edges are perfect for a soft, multi-layered look,” she says.

WRAP IT UP. Another way to impress clients is to turn their photos into wall art. Printing on Sunset Select Matte Canvas and wrapping it with the easy-to-use GOframe system creates a final image that is worthy of hanging in any museum.

ADD SOME SHINE. To bring a little extra shine to your images, try printing on Sunset Photo Metallic Paper. Aluminum prints are increasing in popularity, but if you don’t have access to dye-sub equipment, you can get a similar effect with the metallic photo paper. It’s a cost-effect alternative solution that is compatible with aqueous printers. The metallic paper can also be printed and face-mounted to acrylic, using a clear permanent adhesive, to create a unique piece of statement art.

If you are looking for new opportunities with your clients, contact a LexJet sales specialist at 800-453-9538.

Prints That Win: Sins Broken Chains
Posted on by Jennifer Corn Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Prints That Win: Sins Broken Chains

Last year, Kingsport, Tenn., photographer Brian Castle not only won a PPA Southeast District award for his portrait “Heaven’s Hands of Hope,” but he also took third place in the 2018 IPC awards, in which he saw stiff competition from all of the District PPA Sunset Print Award winners. Because he had such a personal connection to his 2018 award-winning image, Castle wasn’t sure if he could surpass it in 2019.

As it turns out, he not only exceeded his 2018 accomplishments, he blew them out of the water. He once again took home a Sunset Print Award for PPA Southeast District Portrait with “Sins Broken Chains” and, after the judging was finished at the 2019 IPC, it was revealed that Castle would take first place in this year’s competition.

“I was a handler at this year’s competition, so I put each of the competition images on the turntables for the judges,” he says. “It was a neat experience to see the live judging, especially since my image received a ‘Unanimous Loan’ from all five judges.”

Like his previous image, “Sins Broken Chains” came to him in a dream. “In the dream, I was in a dungeon with a family member who couldn’t get free of the shackles,” he says. “I dropped to my knees and prayed, this light came from above and Archangel Michael came and loaned me his wings to rip the chains apart so we could ascend to Heaven.”

To recreate the dream for his photo shoot, he knew it was going to take the right setting, light, staging and props. The day of the shoot was a true family affair. “My whole family was helping: my wife, my mom and dad,” Castle says. “My dad taught me how to shoot on a film camera, so who better to have on-site than someone who has experience and who can set up the lights.”

Castle says the actual shoot took about nine hours from setting up to costuming and makeup, as well as additional action shots to get the chains breaking. “We rented the basement of an abandoned department store, originally built in the 1920s,” he says. “I borrowed the pants from a local theater group, I bought a brand-new white t-shirt, ripped it with a razor and dyed it with teabags. I took theater makeup and smudged it all over to give me a dirty look.”

As he was shackled for the shoot, Castle had an unexpected emotional reaction. “I had these big logging chains attached to me and I had this quarter-inch plate shackle around my wrist, all I could think was ‘What did people go through back in Biblical days when they were chained like this?’ I teared up, it was emotional, I couldn’t hold it back,” he says. “The chains were so heavy, and they wore my arms and shoulders out. I felt the pain a little bit.”

One thing Castle has learned over the years is that it’s important to get every angle, light setting or version of a shot while the scene is set. “For example, to capture the broken chain, my dad whipped the chains and I photographed it several different ways to make sure I had enough for the image,” Castle says. “Newer photographers don’t know to get those extra shots. Through competitions, I’ve learned to think about editing before I’m through shooting, that way if I missed something, I can get it then and won’t need to redo it, later.”

Castle has accomplished quite a few things in 2019. Not only did he receive the top prize in the Sunset Print Awards competition for the first time, but he also completed his first two photography degrees: Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman. “Now I am going for the Master Artist degree,” he says.

Castle says he uses the Sunset Bright Velvet Rag on his Canon PRO-4000 because the paper came highly recommended by fellow Sunset winner Kimberly Smith. “Kim told me about it, and I want every piece to be printed on Velvet Rag; I love it. I will never go to another fine art paper,” he says. “I know LexJet sells other brands, but that Velvet Rag produces more accurate colors, and it’s not as expensive.”

He also travels around the country for speaking engagements where he shares his experiences and success stories. “I travel from Memphis to Atlanta and from Florida to Virginia and I always mention LexJet and the papers,” he says. “I tell them ‘when you buy from LexJet, you’re not just buying the printer and the paper, you’re buying their customer service, too.’”

With another Sunset Print Award-winning image and a first-place finish in 2019, it seems that Brian Castle’s work really is the stuff of dreams.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Prints that Win: She’s a Dream

She's a Dream by Melissa Thompson

Melissa Thompson, owner of Pistachio Alley Photography in Cody, Wyo., is known far and wide for her stellar baby photography. Though it’s not all she does, it’s her specialty.

Each year she highlights her specialty at competition. This image, She’s a Dream, was entered in both the Wyoming and Montana Professional Photographer competitions. At the Montana competition, She’s a Dream wowed the judges and she picked up a Sunset Print Award.

Printed at Pistachio Alley on Sunset Bright Velvet Rag 315g with a Canon iPF8300, Thompson says, “The judges for both state competitions liked the presentation, the paper it was printed on and the print quality. The general consensus was how the image worked well with the Sunset Velvet paper and how the tones were muted, not showing a true black, giving it a dreamlike quality.”

To create the image, Thompson started with a concept she came up with last year for competition, but says she shelved it because “it just wasn’t working out right.” Everything came together this year, however, with the right subject and the right clouds.

The baby is sleeping on a bed of clouds that Thompson created from a composite of four different cloud formations. Thompson photographs compelling cloud formations and keeps them in folder for use with different images.

“This is three or four different cloud images I brought together, taking sections out, and warping them: bending them around the baby so that it looks like a little bed. For the photo, it’s a studio image on a bean bag and I made sure the lighting worked with the clouds I put together,” Thompson explains. “You look at the lighting patterns and make sure the shadows and highlights are going in the same direction so it doesn’t look out of place.”

Thompson based the studio lighting on the clouds she had already chosen so that the baby blends in just right with the clouds, making the image appear real, rather than a composite. In addition to knowing how to studio-light for composites, Thompson adds, “Using the little nuggets of information learned from a few Masters I admire and impeccable printing and paper quality brought this image to fruition and made an incredible art piece that the family of this baby will cherish forever.”